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George Michael

When I first heard the news that George Michael, (Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou) passed away today, December 25,2016, I called my Aunt (Nanny) to check on her. I asked if she heard the news & she said she was about to look it up on her phone & when she saw my call, she knew it had to be true. We hung up, both in shock. I sat with my mouth agape & began to sob. Then the sobs became uncontrollable & my Dad came & sat with me. You see, I’ve listened to George Michael since I was a baby. I cannot remember when I wasn’t enamored with his music. His music has been an integral part of my life. Often times, I will admire an artist for his or her abilities, but this is different. I really LOVE George Michael. He’s talented, stunning, honest, flawed, funny & tried to do right by his millions of fans. And I mean how can you not love a guy who can poke fun at himself?

I had the luxury of hanging out with my Nanny who was into Rick Springfield, Duran Duran, Wham! & later George Michael. I was jamming out to him on a tape deck with a side ponytail & my life was perfect. My dad, who usually loathes pop music, bought me a Wham! poster when I was 5 years old. It hung in my room until it actually fell off the wall. I remember friends coming over & not fully grasping my love for this man. How can I listen to Last Christmas all year long? How can I hate Limp Bizkit’s version of Faith? My answers: Because Last Christmas is amazing & George Michael’s version is & will always be superior to me & he’s amazing-always. Believe me, I’ve never been ashamed for my love for all things George Michael.

My mother remembers dancing me to sleep listening to Careless Whisper, which was released in 1984. I was less than a year old. This song has been a staple on my playlists since a playlist existed. It NEVER gets old. It’s been covered a million times & I still get excited every time I hear it begin to play.

My mom had this song, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me playing in her car all the time. It’s amazing. The older I get, the more I appreciate it. This live duet with Elton John is beautiful. His voice is just like honey.

Freedom ’90 is a crowd favorite & definitely one of my favorites. George is not even in this video & it still manages to be sexy. “I won’t let you down/ I will not give you up/ Gotta have some faith in the sound/ It’s the one good thing that I’ve got/ I won’t let you down/ So please don’t give me up/ Because I would really, really, love to stick around”

I remember being so embarrassed listening to this song, but I couldn’t stop myself. I Want Your Sex is a damn good song. His breathy vocals telling us he wants our sex & love- DAMN! He also promotes safe, monogamous sex in this song, so who can argue with that? Cccccccccome on!

Oh, Lord, Father Figure was my ringtone for over 10 years & for good reason. This song is one I can & will belt out anywhere at anytime. I will stay in the car, make a loop around the block to finish it out. The black & white video- too good. The stalker/rescuer vibe is totally sexy to me & him pinning this bad, sophisticated model against a wall for a passionate kiss- I’m down. If you are the desert, I’ll be the sea/ if you ever hunger, then hunger for me/ Whatever you ask for that’s what I’ll be

One More Try has been a favorite of mine as long as I can remember, but lately I’ve connected to it more. The emotion is his voice overwhelms me at times. It’s about loss, hurt, longing, temptation & love. If you can hear this song & feel nothing, then I guess we can’t be friends.

I wrote my bio for this blog last week & one of the first things I wrote was that I am a lifelong fan of George Michael. My friends constantly get Snapchats of me lip-synching or God forbid, me singing along to Wham! & George. Just yesterday, my daughter was videotaping on Christmas & got a really embarrassing shot of me dancing to Last Christmas in a cowboy hat. His music is ingrained in my life & it will continue to be. If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE George Michael. I am so terribly sad tonight. The world has lost a wonderful creative talent, a brilliant songwriter & the voice of an angel. Rest easy, sir.

kinda crazy how him and Michael Jackson, Prince all got into it with the record companys fought back and all are gone. hard to think George worked with Whitney Houston and now they are both gone. his Music Peers aside from Madonna are gone. strange and scary.
this past few years been hard to take. peace

all of them tough for me in different ways,however having followed them, can’t say i was surprised or shocked as much as how young they all past, demons and that business are real,the politics of the entertainment industry ain’t no joke its real and they build you up and then rip you down and try to get another one like you,just a cold business and unless you were around to appreciate said artist they get put out to pasture for whomever they want to put money on, that is one thing that George made light of with “Freedom 90

That’s true. His fame was a blessing and a curse- he’s been in the limelight since he was a teenager. I can’t even imagine. He also said his mother’s death really affected him & he wasn’t the same. His voice was just gorgeous!